Engine governor for throttle valves



A g- 1952 J. c. SLONNEGER ENGINE GOVERNOR FOR THROTTLE VALVES 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 Original Filed March 14, 1946 John S/onneger 12, 1952 J. c. SLONNEGER 2,606,752

ENGINE GOVERNOR FOR THROTTLE VALVES Original Filed Mar'ch 14, 1946 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 A SK , ig \j /i /2 John C S/onneger Patented Aug. 12, 1952 nner NE covERN OR FOR; THROTTLE ALVES John C. S lonnege Dallas, Tex, assignor to The Continental Supply Company, Dallas, Tex a f'corporation of Delaware w p y, I Original application March 14, 1946, Serial No.

I 654,427, now Patent No. 2,590,134, dated March 25, 1957.2.v Divided'and thisapplication January- P-f e, 1948, Serial No.45?

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in engine governors for throttle valves. I

One object of the invention is to provide an improved engine governor wherein a simple and positive means is provided on the governorfor regulating the amplitude of movement of the throttle valve, whereby the speed'of the engine is automatically regulated-under varying-loads. A further object of theinventio'n' is to provide animproved governor having a visible regulator for regulating: the centrifugal 'displacement of the governor arms through the agency of a coiled spring 'or its equivalent, wherein the spring is shifted .to vary its tension, thusmaking for sensitive and simple regulation. 3

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved governor which: is self -1ubricating. A further object of the invention is to provide an engine governor having a regulator which is at all times free to respond to delicate adjustments and which is freed locked-nuts and other fastenings requiring loosening'before-an adjustment can'bemade. A 2 :.v

A still further object of the invention is ,to,-provide a governor regulator which while, free of looking or fastening means requiring loosening before adjustments, is self-locking when adjusted. i

An important object of the invention is to provide a governor having speed-responsive means under spring tension wherein oil damping means is utilizedto control the centrifugal displacementof the arms of; the speed-responsive means and thus retard or dampen said speedresponsive meansunder certain load conditions, which will pI'GVBIltJ COllfiDSiHg-Of the speed-responsive "means upon a suddenreduction in speed with the consequent sudden opening of the enginethrottleand conversely, if the speed should he suddenly increased,' the speed-responsive means will be retarded or clamped and smoother engine operation will result. j

A construction designed'to carry out the invention will be hereinafter described together withother featuresof the invention.- V

The invention will be more readily understood from a reading of the following specification and by; reference to the accompanying? drawing,

wherein examples of the invention are shown,

and wherein: V I -Fig- 1 is a side elevation of a governor constructed in accordance with the invention, A V

' Fig. 2 is a horizontal cross-sectional view-taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1, g

l 2 i f Fig. 3 is a reduced horizontal cross sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1, and Fig. 4 is a slightly enlarged vertical sectional view of the governor showing its lubricating and driving means.

This application is a division of my co-pending application filed March 14, 1946, Serial {No. 654,427, now Patent No. 2,590,134. i

In the drawings, the numeral l0 designates the top wall of an engine crankcase II. The 'upper end of the camshaft 12 has ahorizontal gear l3 fastened thereon. This gear drives a'horizontal pinion I4 fastened on the'lower end of the reduced shank' 15 of a'vert'ical, tubular governor shaft l6, by'means of a nut I'l. At the intersec tion of the shank and the tubular por'tion'of-rthe governor shaft, a'horizontal ball bearing assem bly 18 is provided for'rotatably supporting said shaft. The bearing assemblyis'mounted in'a collar l9 and held in place by aretaining ring. The collar fits in a circular opening 2| formed in the top wall ll] of the crankcase and depends from the bottom of a flangedg'overnor base 22 whichlis bolted on said top wall. The governor shaft is'enclosed within and spaced from a sleeve 23 connecting the flanges of the base. The upper end of the shaft is reduced and has fastened thereon the hub 24 of a transverse grooved bracket 25, which hub rotates in the upper end of'th-e sleeve and extends thereabove.v Adome-shaped governor housing 26 is secured in an annular recess 21 in the top flange of the housing'by means of bolts 28'. The shaft 16 terminates below the upper end'of the hub 24 and receives a vertically slideable plunger 28. This plunger carries a thrust disk 29 on itsupper end. The lower end of the plunger carries a'piston 30 which has a loose sliding fit in the bore of the tubular governor shaft. The piston'opcrates in an oil bath which lubricates the plunger and clamps its action. A cylindrical cup 3| is secured, axially of the plunger, on the disk 29 and receives the lower end of a detent 32which rests upon a ball 33 in said cup. The upperend of the detentengages in an inverted cup 34.

Since the governor shaft [6 is rotatable, the hub 24 and thebracket 25 are likewise rotatable; the bracket rotating in the lower portion of the governor housing and the plunger being slideable therethrough. Angular governor arms 35 are mounted in the grooved ends of the bracket on pins 36 and have inwardly-directed fingers 3'! which engage between the disk 29 and the bottom of the bracket. Weights 38 disposed'on the upper ends of the arms overhang the fingers and The upper cup 34 is pivoted on a transverse pin 39 in the yoke 40 of an arm 4| extending later-' The lever' includes ton and thus relieves the force of the partial vacuum on the plunger. Now if the speed should be suddenly decreased, the plunger can move downwardly only as rapidly, as the unbalanced force acting downward causes the piston to by pass the oil trapped thereunder. By controlling the clearance between the piston and the bore of the governor shaft, the rate at which the oil bypasses is regulated and thus, upon the downward motion of the plunger, a greater retarding or damping action may be obtained than during the Y upward motion thereof.

spaced cars 50 along the outer side of the .Iarm'.

41. A knurled knob 5ifis fastened on one end ,of the-shaftfor-rotating the same. A ,coiled spring 52 ihasitslower end engaged over a stud 53,-on'the exteriorof the governor base 22. The upper end of the spring isformed-into a hook 54 which is engaged in the spiral groove-55of the shaft 49.

the detent 32 and cup .34 will swing the arm 4],

whereby the :shaft '42 will be :rocked, which in turn, will-rock or swingthe lever "48; By :this arrangement, the amplitude of theswing of the long arm 48-of thelever"46 will be controlled-by the centrifugal action of the governor. Further, it will beseen that since the arm'4l extends laterally from the rock shaft 42 on the same sideof 'saidshafta's thearm 4|, the spring will exert a downward force upon the plunger'28 through the elements connected therebetween. The'pull of the spring "52 is reflected in leverage determined by the spacing of the hook 54 from the shaft 42 on which the lever'is fastened. "If the knob is turned'to move the hook closer to said shaft, this leverage is reduced, but if the rotation '01 the-shaft is reversed to'move the spring h'ook outwardly, then the leverage is increased; also as the hook 54 is moved outwardly on the shaft, the spring will be adjusted at an increasing angle to the perpendicular, and therefore, its tension will be increased. The lower end of the lever arm 48 is pivotally connected to a throttle rod 55 whichis suitably attached to the throttle of a carburetor (not shown) or other fuel device.

The forces exerted by the centrifugal action of the governor and the extension of the spring 52 seeks a balance. For setting up a damping action the plunger 28 is reduced just above the piston to provide an oil space 51 in the bore of the shaft l6. An increase in speed will raise the plunger 28 and if this occurs suddenly, a partial vacuum will be produced below the piston 30 because of the comparatively slow by-passing of the oil balance confined in the governor shaft. This vacuum, of .course, slightly retards the action of the governor and momentary slight overspeeding may result. If the increase in specdlis maintained, the plunger will be further elevated as the oilqcompletelyfills .the bore belowthepis- It is, of course, understood that the governor is so connected to the throttle of the carburetor thatan upwardmotion of the plunger 28 causes thethrottle tomove toward a closed position and upon adownward movement of the plunger, to

move toward an open position. In view of the foregoing, it is pointed out that because of the damping or retarding action, the throttle may be closed quickly, thereby "preventing :the engine from overspeeding, but the throttle cannotybe opened as rapidly. In all speed changes, the'piston 30 exerts a damping action to steady the speed of theengine.

Where the engine is used with a comparatively rapidly fluctuating load,-as"for instance where an oil well pump is beingqdriven, the damping action has-the effect of producing substantially no movement of the throttle valvesince'thegovernor assumes substantially an average position, due to the fact that'the governor does not react to momentary speed changes, as will be obvious from the foregoing description. Should the average load' be definitely changed, the spring and governor weights will slowly assume a new average position to maintain balance, but it is pointed out that if the change of load or speed is of short duration, there may be substantially-no change in the position of the throttle.

In ordinarygovernors, the mechanism is:so constructed that a sudden-reduction inspeedwill cause the governorweights to collapse, which will result in a sudden opening of the throttle. However, the damping action herein described avoids this condition and the throttle will open in a comparatively even and steady manner. It is pointed out that the sensitivity of the governor is not impaired by this oil damper. On the con.- trary, the arrangement of the spiral 'shaft 49 and spring 52 provides for very-accurate adjustment as to speed which the governor will maintain under rapidly fluctuating loads.

The knob 51 provides a convenient-means for adjusting the governor'for predetermined speeds and such adjustment provides for a very broad speed range. As has been before pointed out,'th-is is due to the leverage effect of the spring 52 on the lever 45. By this arrangement,-a wide range of peed adjustments may be accomplished and the sensitivity proportionately maintained.

As hereinbefore stated the governor is selflubricating. The top part of the base 22 has a port 58 and a vent 59 to the atmosphere is provided in the top of the housing 26. The'port 58 establishes communication between the housing and a chamber 60 in the base. The chamber has a sliding nipple 6| in its lower end riding upon the gear l3 which latter has ports 62 adapted to register with the nipple and periodically open the crankcase II to the atmosphere, whereby oil entrained in an air stream will flow into the housing.

The centrifugal action of the whirling arms 35 will separate the oil droplets from the airstream.

Some of the oil will fall upon the bracket 25 and flow down around the plunger; some of said oil will flow down between the hub 24 and the bore of the sleeve 23, through the ball hearing assembly and return to the crankcase; while a surplus of oil will pass down through the port 58. This separation of the oil from the air stream by means of the arms 35, makes the governor self-lubricating.

It is pointedout that no positive locking means is required for the shaft 49, such as nuts or other fastening elements which require loosening before adjustments can be made, and thereafter must be tightened. Because the diameter of the shaft 49 through the bottom of the groove 55 is less than the diameter of those portions of the shaft 49 journaled in the ears 50, the turning moment exerted by the spring loop 54 is less than the frictional resistance or frictional moment exerted by the ears 50 upon the portions of the shaft 49 present therein. As the lever 48 is oscillated, there is some creeping action of the loop 54 in the groove 55 and a tendency for such movement to cause rotation of the shaft 49 resulting in improper adjustment of the governor structure. Since the engagement of the loop with the groove is at least partially frictional in nature, however, such rotative creeping of the shaft 49 is effected by friction and through a moment arm equal to the radius of the shaft 49 at the bottom of the groove 55. By making those portions of the shaft 49 present within the ears 59 of greater radius than the radius to the bottom of the groove '55, a frictional resistance is set up, such resistance acting upon the shaft through a moment arm greater than that through which the spring loop 54 acts, and because of this difference in radii ormoment arms, the structure becomes self-locking.

The foregoing description of the invention is explanatory thereof and various changes in the size, shape and materials, as well as in the details of the illustrated construction may be made, within the scope of the appended claim, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

An engine regulator including, a housing having speed-responsive means therein, a rock shaft J'ournaled in the housing and connected to the speed responsive means, a bell-crank lever fastened on the outer end of said shaft having spaced ears on one arm, a rotatable member J'ournaled in said ears along the arm of the lever and having a spiral groove, and a coiled spring having one end engaging in the groove of the member, the radius of the member from the bottom of the groove being less than the radius of that portion of the member J'ournaled in the ears, whereby the frictional moment between the member and the ears is greater than the frictional moment between the member and the spring.

JOHN C. SLONNEGER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,304,348 Monahan May 20, 1919 1,655,681 Standerwick et al. Jan. 10, 1928 2,134,758 Hobart Nov. 1, 1938 2,193,927 Jivkovitch Mar. 19, 1940 2.194,166 Hess Mar. 19, 1940 2,250,983 Adler July 29, 1941 2,473,449 Rodeck June 14, 1949 

